


Mint

by Trekkele



Series: A Townie, A Linguist, And Several Kinds Of Tea. [7]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Gen, If u aren't a little in love with ur best friends what even is the point?, alcohol mention, his monologues need work, jim also has his eloquent moments, jim and Uhura being friends, or tipsy as the case may be, that are few and far between tho, uhura is a very eloquent drunk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2018-10-11
Packaged: 2019-07-29 15:11:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16266767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trekkele/pseuds/Trekkele
Summary: In which Jim’s low self esteem makes another stealth appearance, the dichotomy of Uhura’s Terrifying/Adorable self is discussed, and we all know who she’s angsting about.Except Jim. No one ever tells that boy anything.





	Mint

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so this is the last of the 3 that were in my drafts, but that just means I need to write out the other (3?) ideas I have.   
> I don’t think this series will end really.   
> Based a little bit on a scene from the comics.

Jim’s on his way up from the library when he notices Uhura pacing nervously in the abandoned student lounge. Again. 

He doesn’t think he’s ever seen her  _ nervous _ nervous before, not like this, and it’s freaking him out a little. After all,  _ he’s  _ supposed to be the neurotic hot mess in this relationship, not her. So of course he walks over.

 

“Are you ok?” She just nods, ponytail swinging as she faces him with the most impressive  _ nothing to see here _ face he’s ever seen off of a Vulcan. 

Which is of course when she decides to eradicate any semblance of this being a normal conversation with a single question. 

He’d be impressed at her ability to do things like that if it didn’t scare the shit out of him. 

“How do you know you’re attracted to someone?” She blurts it out as though she had had no intention of asking him, eyes widening and hand coming up to cover her mouth.

 

He blinks, pretty sure his brain just shut down and is manually rebooting. 404 Jim Kirk not found.

“I don’t... I’m sorry,  _ what _ ?”

 

“How do I know if I'm attracted to someone or if its a dumb crush and not worth my time, or risking my career. Or if I’m being manipulated or led on or…”

He interupts her, not sure how he got himself into this, “Wait what do you mean manipulating you? What’s going on, Uhura is everything ok?”  He’s suddenly very glad he skipped going out tonight, because the tightening in his chest as Uhura frantically shakes her head is heavy and aching and familiar in way he hates.

 

“Yes everything is  _ fine _ ,” she waved her arm vaguely in his direction. “I just, … Never mind.”

 

He stands there wondering where the hell Gaila is, or at least one of the people he's sure she actually  _ trusts  _ for this kind of conversation. Even Bones would probably be better at this, closet romantic that he is.

Fuck it, he’ll have to do.

 

He sits down on the couch directly behind her, watching as she stares out the floor to ceiling windows that face the Bay. 

“My mom...my mom insists she  _ hated _ my dad when they first met. The whole “Romeo and Juliet” Great StarFleet Tragedy was a FleetPR thing. They wanted this romantic story and she just … never bothered to correct them. Said it wasn't worth her time. “

 

Uhura turned to stare at him. Eyes fucking huge. Now that he thinks about it she's maybe a little drunk. 

 

“My dad.” He laughs a little, because he’s never called George “ _ my dad”  _ in his entire life. “Ma said George was one of her best friends before anything else and  _ that's _ why it worked. Said he was like fucking Mr Darcy but marginally less pretentious and he didn't have to propose twice. Mostly because she the one who actually asked, but she always called it logistics anyways.” He leans forward, putting his hands on his knees as Uhura slowly sits down next to him, ankles folded and at the edge of the cushion like she isn’t sure why she’s still here.

 

“Do you like talking to them? Do you see something dumb and irrelevant and think  _ oh I need to take a picture because they'll like it _ ? Can you imagine drinking coffee with them and not saying anything just passing a padd over because they'll find this article hilarious and they’ll just take it no questions asked? Do you randomly think of them and start smiling for no reason?

But if you can imagine having a conversation with them for three hours and then immediately calling them, and the idea of sleeping with them is great but when you’re with them what you  _ really  _ want is to make them laugh, then go for it.” He can feel her eyes on him, but he’s kicking the carpet and refuses to look up because he knows exactly what kind of face she’s making and that’s not what he needs right now.

 

“But … whatever you do...you probably know this already. You know all of this,  you’re just scared to admit it because that means admitting that you need to make a move, or that you need to walk away.” 

 

He risks looking up from the floor and Uhura is still staring at him with giant brown eyes and damn it she really is at least a little tipsy. Are those tears in her eyes?

 

“That was...that was beautiful.” She sniffles, and he wants to wrap her up in a blanket and maybe punch something, because how the fuck does a woman who terrifies him at least once a day sound so fucking cute? He wonders how he got this lucky, that she hasn’t kicked his ass to the curb yet, and let’s him hang around her like they're … like they're friends. Are they? He thinks they are.

 

“I want to go to bed now.” She announces suddenly, apropos of almost nothing. She stands up, giving no indication that she was anything but stone cold sober. “Gaila was studying and I didn’t want to bother her with my freaking out, so I brought my mojito down here I think I finished it and I’ve been so nervous because of - because of - things.” She continues, smoothing her skirt down with a sense of finality. 

 

Jim raises his eyebrows and stands up to face her. “One mojito? That’s all?” He’s grinning, because looking her in the face proves that she  _ is  _ tipsy. You wouldn’t guess by the way she was walking or talking but her eyes gave it way. A little fuzzy and less focused then she normally was.

“Excuse me,” she hiccups, practically giggling. It is the cutest sound he’s ever heard and he’s more than a little in love with this woman, he fully admits. This ..person she’s freaking out over better be worth it, he knows several ways to hide a body. “It was my third!” She sounds ridiculously proud, and he can’t help but laugh as they reach her dorm room door. She leans against him as he knocks, hoping Gaila didn’t decide to put her headphones on. Uhura's eyelashes brush against his neck and she murmurs softly as the door opens. 

 

“You’re a good friend Kirk. One of the best. Even if you’re an asshole sometimes.”

 

Well. He’ll take it.

  
  
  


(“Uhura why did you think you were being manipulated?“

 

“Look, Jim, I-“

 

“Don’t you dare tell me it was just a poor choice of words, you’re a  _ linguist _ for Astereia’s sake.”

 

“I - someone else implied that - they- would only be interested in me as a - social experiment sort of thing. That they just wanted to see how - convincing - they could be. At a relationship.”

 

“Bullshit. I bet they were just jealous.”

 

“Maybe.”

 

“Trust me Uhura. I know a babe when I see one.”

 

“Ugh, remind me why, do I like you?”

 

“...Wait you  _ do _ ? Uhura? Uhura, no, wait up!”)

 

**Author's Note:**

> To be perfectly clear: I added the end dialogue for a reason. Uhura is normally super confident and since both her and Spock are adults and he has no influence on her career, I don’t think they did anything wrong. However I’m sure she wasn’t the only one interested in him, and people can get mean when they’re jealous.  
> Also Mojitos are yummy and Uhura makes a really good cocktail.  
> Comments feed my brain! Thanks for reading!


End file.
